1. Field of The Invention
The invention relates to a foldable safety barrier to be secured in an opening, such as a door opening, a staircase or a window, and comprising a frame having an upper cross member and a lower cross member as well as first and second lateral posts, said upper and lower cross members as well said lateral posts being adapted to secure a covering which is defined by the upper and lower cross members as well as by the lateral posts, said upper and lower cross members consisting of two parts which are mutually displaceable so that the length of the upper and lower cross members may be adjusted, said lateral posts being provided with a hinge link to fold the lateral posts into the plane of the safety barrier.
2. The Prior Art
Such safety barriers are used e.g. in connection with journeys where they may be installed in a holiday flat, a hotel room, a summer cottage, etc.
Usually, the safety barriers are based on separate pipes, typically four, which are assembled to a frame, and which, prior to assembly, are passed through casings in a square piece of fabric which, after assembly, is partly fixed round the assembled pipe frame.
This frame is raised to a vertical position, and a bolt is typically mounted at the four ends, two in each of the horizontal pipes, said bolt having a rubber-coated head mounted therein which is fixed in an opening or a door frame. This fixing subjects the frame to pressure, and when fixed sufficiently the frame is safe enough to deny children up to a certain age access to or to prevent them from falling down stairs.
The drawback of these structures is that they are very cumbersome to assemble, and their size makes it almost impossible to carry them along on journeys e.g. in trunks because of the length of the pipes.
Further, it may be difficult to comply with safety standards since, typically, it cannot be controlled whether the safety barrier is fixed sufficiently.
DE 19742636 discloses a foldable frame for door safety purposes, where the frame is composed of upper and lower cross members as well as two lateral posts. Folding takes place in that two hinge brackets are mounted in the lateral posts to allow the lateral posts to be folded inwards toward each other so that the frame occupies less space during transport. A similar frame is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,164.
It is common to the two known frames that the outer dimensions of the hinge brackets are different from those of the lateral posts, which means that in a folded-out state the frame has shoulders which a child may use when attempting to climb over the safety barrier.
Accordingly, the object of the invention is to provide a safety barrier which is safer than the known ones.